There is a growing demand for wireless location tracking systems that accommodate the behaviors and needs of tracked users. Some existing wireless location monitoring or tracking systems use short range wireless transmitters and receivers for fine resolution location determination. These systems generally require users to carry extraneous locator devices (ones they normally do not posses, often ones belonging to the venue) where the locator devices repeatedly or continuously broadcast an identification signal and a location indicating signal that pinpoints the current location of an identified locator device within a given venue. More specifically, such existing systems typically operate by detecting nearby short-range radio tags or transponders (RFIDs) embedded in user-adjacent and fixedly positioned items of the venue such as fixedly positioned seats, tables or racks in the venue (e.g., a retail environment). The extraneous wireless locator devices carried by the users relay the locator-identifying information and location-identifying information of the detected tags (RFIDs) to a location correlating central processor. The processor then consults a database to convert the locator-identifying information into user-identifying information and to provide fine resolution customer location information.
This known approach has several shortcomings. For example, the wireless locator device must be intentionally placed by a customer within a very short distance, (e.g., approximately one inch away) from the to-be-detected radio tag (location-identifying transponder). If the customer is not aware of this requirement, the location tracking solution may not function properly and locating the customer to a desired level of resolution becomes difficult. Due to the continuous or often repeated transmissions of the locator-identifying information and the location-identifying information, batteries in the extraneous locator devices rapidly run out of energy and need to be frequently recharged.
Also, it is increasingly common to find retail locations equipped with movable seating, tables and product racks as opposed to fixedly-located ones. As this furniture is moved about in the venue, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine the customer's location based on the detection of the furniture's embedded radio tags.
It is to be understood that some concepts, ideas and problem recognitions provided in this description of the Background may be novel rather than part of the prior art.